In 1967, Nord Aviation, a French precursor of the European missile manufacturer MBDA, began development of a ship-launched guided missile. Perfected in 1974, the missile entered French naval service in 1979 as the Exocet (French for “flying fish”).
Using a solid-propellant rocket with a range of 38 nautical miles, the weapon saw deployment as the surface-launched MM38, the air-launched AM38 and AM39, and the submarine-launched SM39. The newer surface-launched MM40 version has a turbojet engine that extends its range to 97 nautical miles. Fitted with inertial and active radar, the Exocet skims just a few yards above the ocean’s surface, making it difficult to detect on radar.
On May 4, 1982, during the Falklands War, an Exocet launched from an Argentine navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard fighter struck the British destroyer HMS Sheffield, failing to explode but causing massive fires that ultimately sank the warship.
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Three weeks later, two Super Étendard–launched Exocets hit the British container ship Atlantic Conveyor, which also sank. The Argentines missed the light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible on May 30, but a land-launched Exocet damaged the destroyer HMS Glamorgan on June 12, shortly before the British retook the Falkland Islands.
During its eight-year (1980–88) clash with Iran, Iraq launched 200 Exocets at enemy-flagged tankers and other vessels, with varying success.
But in the Persian Gulf on May 17, 1987, an Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1, for reasons unexplained — Iraq was not at war with the United States — launched two Exocets that hit the frigate Stark, whose surviving crew managed to save the badly damaged warship.
This article originally appeared on HistoryNet.com.
